Flack
01-24-2004, 08:32 AM
Right before Christmas, I bought a Hypertech Truck Programmer for my dad's Christmas present. You may remember, I bitched about it at the time. Basically, I circumvented every possible security manner -- the guy ended the auction early so I couldn't leave feedback, I paid PayPal from my bank account instead of a credit card, etc. These items go for $350 new but he had one for $200, NIB. Now, the kicker here is, these things can only be used on one truck at a time. If you program a truck, you have to reset the truck back to factory settings before you can use this on another truck. That's why I bought this one, because it was NIB.
Well it turned out that it was not NIB. It had been used. And the seller owned a car shop in California, and used it on a customer's car. "Must've been a mix up" he said. Plus, instead of $200, he wanted $250, and $25 for FedEx. I was desperate for a Christmas gift, so I paid it.
The guy would not offer me a refund. Instead, he wanted me to send the unit back to him so he could reset it. I checked all over the web and even with the company and they say there is no way to reset it. Then the guy changed his story and said he has a dealer's deal with them and he can send it back to them since he has the original receipt and they will fix it for him since he's a dealer, but not for me. So if I will just send him the unit (so now he has the unit AND the money) he will take care of it for me.
Needless to say, I felt more than uneasy about this. Plus the guy said he would fax me a contract stating that he would honor the deal and whatnot, well he never sent that. And he got a lot more hateful in his e-mails with me as time went on.
So, the day after Christmas, I went with my dad and bought him a new programmer, which with tax came to close to $400.
So here were my thoughts. I could sell it "as/is" on eBay and claim not to know the condition. That's pretty dirty, and I ruled that one out quickly. I could sell it "as/is" and state the condition -- maybe there is a way to reset them that I just don't know about. I could send it back to him and he could rip me off, which really isn't much worse than where I am now since it's not functional. Or best case scenario, I could send it back to him, he could fix it, and send it back to me. Since he wanted me to pay for shipping (both ways) that's at least $20, and since they sell working used for about $200, that would net me $180 back.
After thinking long and hard I decided to sell it as/is on eBay with a full disclosure as to its current state. I said something like, "maybe you can reset this, maybe you know a tech who can reset this, maybe you can get the company to exchange it, maybe you can return it somewhere. Just know that as is, this programmer can not be used until you get it reset somehow. I couldn't get it reset and gave up and bought a new one."
I ended up getting $102.50 for it off eBay, which still means I took a bit of a hit financially, but I can live with that. Call it a cheap life lesson.
So the guy who won the auction sends me this e-mail (digging).
"I have purchased the following item on eBay from you. Please send me the total amount I owe you. how long is it going to take so i can recive the programmer i will apprciate your attentiont thank you"
The guy's e-mail is from latinmail.com. I'm starting to get the feeling that this guy doesn't speakah de English too good, so when I mailed him the total, this is what I said:
"Hi! You were the high bidder for my Hypertech Programmer. Please let me know how you would like this shipped ... I figure $5 should cover regular ground shipping, and $7 should cover two day priority mail. Drop me an e-mail and let me know how you plan on paying. Also, before paying, please be sure to let me know that you read the auction and you understand that this unit will need to be reset before using. I don't want to sell it to anyone not understanding that. Thanks, and congratulations!"
He then PayPal'ed me the money and attached this note:
"how long is it going to take so i can reciveit i will apprciate your attention thank you"
I have got the TOTAL feeling now that he doesn't understand that this thing won't work, and I've told him twice. I just KNOW I'm going to get a negative feedback out of this deal, plus some sort of attempt at a refund. I paid for a tracking number out of my pocket just to cover myself. He's already e-mailed me two more times asking when it will arrive. I sent it priority so it's got to be there today (Saturday). I am just bracing myself for this one.
I swear that thing is cursed.
Well it turned out that it was not NIB. It had been used. And the seller owned a car shop in California, and used it on a customer's car. "Must've been a mix up" he said. Plus, instead of $200, he wanted $250, and $25 for FedEx. I was desperate for a Christmas gift, so I paid it.
The guy would not offer me a refund. Instead, he wanted me to send the unit back to him so he could reset it. I checked all over the web and even with the company and they say there is no way to reset it. Then the guy changed his story and said he has a dealer's deal with them and he can send it back to them since he has the original receipt and they will fix it for him since he's a dealer, but not for me. So if I will just send him the unit (so now he has the unit AND the money) he will take care of it for me.
Needless to say, I felt more than uneasy about this. Plus the guy said he would fax me a contract stating that he would honor the deal and whatnot, well he never sent that. And he got a lot more hateful in his e-mails with me as time went on.
So, the day after Christmas, I went with my dad and bought him a new programmer, which with tax came to close to $400.
So here were my thoughts. I could sell it "as/is" on eBay and claim not to know the condition. That's pretty dirty, and I ruled that one out quickly. I could sell it "as/is" and state the condition -- maybe there is a way to reset them that I just don't know about. I could send it back to him and he could rip me off, which really isn't much worse than where I am now since it's not functional. Or best case scenario, I could send it back to him, he could fix it, and send it back to me. Since he wanted me to pay for shipping (both ways) that's at least $20, and since they sell working used for about $200, that would net me $180 back.
After thinking long and hard I decided to sell it as/is on eBay with a full disclosure as to its current state. I said something like, "maybe you can reset this, maybe you know a tech who can reset this, maybe you can get the company to exchange it, maybe you can return it somewhere. Just know that as is, this programmer can not be used until you get it reset somehow. I couldn't get it reset and gave up and bought a new one."
I ended up getting $102.50 for it off eBay, which still means I took a bit of a hit financially, but I can live with that. Call it a cheap life lesson.
So the guy who won the auction sends me this e-mail (digging).
"I have purchased the following item on eBay from you. Please send me the total amount I owe you. how long is it going to take so i can recive the programmer i will apprciate your attentiont thank you"
The guy's e-mail is from latinmail.com. I'm starting to get the feeling that this guy doesn't speakah de English too good, so when I mailed him the total, this is what I said:
"Hi! You were the high bidder for my Hypertech Programmer. Please let me know how you would like this shipped ... I figure $5 should cover regular ground shipping, and $7 should cover two day priority mail. Drop me an e-mail and let me know how you plan on paying. Also, before paying, please be sure to let me know that you read the auction and you understand that this unit will need to be reset before using. I don't want to sell it to anyone not understanding that. Thanks, and congratulations!"
He then PayPal'ed me the money and attached this note:
"how long is it going to take so i can reciveit i will apprciate your attention thank you"
I have got the TOTAL feeling now that he doesn't understand that this thing won't work, and I've told him twice. I just KNOW I'm going to get a negative feedback out of this deal, plus some sort of attempt at a refund. I paid for a tracking number out of my pocket just to cover myself. He's already e-mailed me two more times asking when it will arrive. I sent it priority so it's got to be there today (Saturday). I am just bracing myself for this one.
I swear that thing is cursed.